The Jared Chronicles | Book 2 | Tears of Chaos

by Tippins, Rick

  Devon stopped when he reached the older man, glancing back as the little dog cruised up and sniffed at Calvin’s leg.

  “Followed ya home, huh?” Calvin asked, smiling down at the pooch.

  “John wanted a dog. I saw him running around and gave him part of a cooked squirrel, and he followed me all the way back,” Devon said flatly, staring down at the dog, who had gone from sniffing at Calvin’s leg to scratching behind its own ear.

  Calvin could tell the dog was a male by the position it was in and could also see the animal had not been neutered. He didn’t comment on it, but seeing an unneutered dog in California nowadays was downright rare. “Asked you to bring home a pet, did he?” Calvin mused.

  “Yep,” Devon answered in the same monotone as before.

  “He got a name?” Calvin asked, shifting the subject away from what John had asked of the teen.

  “Crank.”

  “You named him Crank?” Calvin said, his face wrinkled in skepticism.

  “No, it’s on his collar. His name is Crank—there’s a number on the tag.” Devon said, shrugging his thin shoulders. “Not that it matters.”

  “Well, let’s get you back to the house and get some food into you.” Calvin glanced at Crank, who was now trotting around, sniffing at all the many ground squirrel holes in the area. “Will he come with us?”

  In answer, Devon clapped the side of his leg with a palm and headed off toward the house, with Crank hot on his heels.

  Inside the house, the two children fell head over heels for Crank. It was magical to see the two so happy. Crank must have been raised around children based on his lack of nervousness around Essie and Salvador. The dog nuzzled both kids, allowing them to scratch his head and ears for several minutes before he tore off down the hall to inspect the rest of the house. Shannon looked up at Calvin with a quizzical look as Crank scurried off with Devon following him.

  “Don’t we have enough mouths to feed without Devon bringing home stray dogs?”

  Calvin smiled at Shannon, a smile that said I agree, but there’s more. “Oh, I agree, but John asked him to do it.”

  From outside, Shannon and Calvin heard the sound of Jared, John and Carlos returning from the creek. Shannon shot a sharp look at Calvin, who just sighed and took a seat in the kitchen, a front-row seat, in his opinion, to whatever show Shannon was going to put on when John came through the door. With no television or radio, it was little things like these Calvin was able to find entertainment in.

  The door opened and Jared stepped through, dropping his rifle against the wall. Carlos was next, and then John appeared. Calvin almost smiled visibly, but held back; he wanted the show to take its own natural course with no spectator interference. John scanned the room, seeing Devon was back as he stowed his rifle next to the others. He was about to step deeper into the room when his eyes locked on Shannon’s.

  John drew a breath and looked like he might turn and just leave, but he caught himself, straightened, and walked confidently into the house, where he took a seat at the kitchen table next to Calvin. Jared was about to walk back to his room, when he sensed the disturbance, stopping short.

  “John, did you ask Devon to bring you home a pet?” Shannon demanded accusatorily.

  John’s mouth dropped open an eighth of an inch before he clamped it shut and looked directly back at Shannon. “Yeah, I did. Why?”

  “Don’t you think we have enough mouths to feed as it is?” Shannon pressed.

  John grimaced. “We do. We are short on food for the long haul, but what we are also short on is sleep, and if the kid brought home a dog and we give the mutt table scraps, it’ll get protective of this place and bark if any strangers come meandering into camp,” John finished with a smug smile.

  Just then Crank came bounding out of the hall and into the living room, where he stopped and stared at the three newcomers for a moment before sensing they weren’t a threat, at which time he set about sniffing each man thoroughly, storing their scent in his little memory banks. Shannon stared hard at John, not fully happy with his answer, which did make some sense in regard to everyone getting a little more sleep. Over the next few minutes, the group relaxed, and soon everyone was taking turns petting Crank.

  The little terrier had so much energy, everyone was tired and ready to eat before Crank was anywhere near finished being petted and scratched behind his ears. Slowly the group settled in, and Jared joined Stephani in the kitchen to prepare dinner for everyone. Shannon sat with the kids, toying with Crank and chatting with the children. After dinner was served, every member of the group gave Crank some of their dinner. The children would have given the dog their entire dinner if Shannon had allowed it.

  Two days after Devon’s return, Calvin and John finished rigging the horses to tow the VW down to the U-Haul location. The plan was for Jared and Barry to take two horses, towing the VW to Solar Green, and wait for John and Calvin, who would be guided by Devon to the U-Haul place, where they would fetch a trailer. Devon would head back to the ranch house as soon as he’d shown John, Carlos and Calvin to the U-Haul business, while Crank was to stay at the ranch house with the women and children in order to assist with security.

  When the men saddled up and moved out, Crank made no effort to follow. He was smart enough to know a good thing when he saw it. He ran about the horses, curious about what the men were doing, but when they left, he sat at Shannon’s feet and watched them go. When the men were out of sight, Shannon took the children inside and began their studies. Stephani and Claire were starting to put together a gardening area behind the ranch house, which was backbreaking work that kept them busy.

  The women would stay busy while the men were gone, teaching the children and tending to the garden. None of the work would be dangerous, which Stephani and Claire appreciated on a different level than Shannon could. The women completed the day’s work and ate dinner, giving Crank the scraps, after which Essie and Salvador were put to bed. The house was dark, only lighted by a single candle flickering on the kitchen table, casting eerie shadows across the walls.

  If any of them wanted to read, they would have to sit at the kitchen table, huddled close to the tiny candle. It was more work than any of the three women felt like putting out after the grueling day they had. All three women curled up on the couch and took turns loving on Crank as they engaged in idle chitchat. An hour after the children were asleep, the women moved to the back of the house, leaving Crank inside, and went to bed themselves. The little dog made his way around the dark interior of the house, inspecting nearly every inch of floor, furniture and walls. After his inspection, Crank retired to Essie’s room, where he jumped up on the bed and curled up next to the sleeping child.

  The five men moved only as fast as the horses could draw the heavy car, which wasn’t fast enough by John’s standards. No one liked being on the road, but there were no other options if they wanted to use the VW to pull the trailer back to the ranch house. The men took turns driving the little German car as the two horses dragged it slowly down the country road. Calvin had loaded two large five-gallon containers of water for the horses, and at the first stop they drank greedily.

  John moved to Jared’s side. “What do you think about sending the kid out ahead to scout?”

  Jared pursed his lips as he thought about it. “I like that idea a lot more than I like walking straight down the middle of this road, I’ll tell ya that much,” he replied matter-of-factly.

  John nodded. All he wanted was Jared’s approval, and now he had it. “Hey, Devon,” John called to the teen.

  Devon was sitting a short distance away, with a weed hanging out of his mouth like some old-school farmer, when John called out to him.

  John walked over and squatted down. “What do ya think about going out ahead of us and doing some scouting? Let us know if there’s anything or anyone in our path?”

  Devon thought for a second, then bobbed his head. “I’ll go.” With that, he got to his feet, hefted his pack, and st
arted off.

  “Whoa there, cowboy. Let’s talk about a couple of things first,” John said with a smile. “If you can get back to us before we get into a place of no return, do it, but if there is something for whatever reason that we need to know about right now, you fire three shots as a signal. You good with that?” John asked, his face growing serious.

  “Yeah, three shots—got it,” Devon said, fidgeting with the safety on his Ruger rifle.

  “We’ll give you half an hour start; then we’re going to move. When you reach the intersection at the bottom of this road, hunker down and wait for us,” John added.

  Wordlessly, Devon turned and started off. Jared watched the boy for a moment, but something in the teen’s posture and mannerisms told him the stars were not aligned in the lad’s life. Jared took off after the boy, jogging to catch up. John watched, but made no effort to interfere. When Jared was abreast of Devon, the two walked for several yards before Jared spoke.

  “You understand John is not asking you to go out there because he wants you out of our hair, right?”

  Devon turned his face up towards Jared. “Seems like it. I always get sent out by myself, and you guys always go together—but it’s okay. My parents were kinda the same way,” Devon said dismissively.

  “Ah, it ain’t like that at all, Devon. John is a certified badass, and he sends you out after he talks to me about it. He sends you out because he is amazed by how proficient you are at working alone. He’s asking you because you’re the best out of all of us at doing stuff like scouting and creeping around, finding trailers and whatever else you end up doing for all of us so we can live and be more comfortable,” Jared cajoled.

  Devon scrunched his mouth sideways and rolled his head slightly as he ran his index fingers around the edge of his thumbnails. After a moment, Devon looked Jared square in the eye. “Do you think I’m good at that kind of stuff?”

  Jared knew any hesitation would kill what little progress he’d made with the young man. “Fuck yeah I do,” Jared blurted out with a grin.

  “And you’re not just trying to get rid of me?” Devon pressed.

  “I am telling you the straight truth here, man,” Jared said, his voice conveying his seriousness.

  “Okay—that’s cool,” Devon murmured. The teen glanced up briefly at Jared and gave him a small smile and was off. His shoulders were held a little higher, and he stepped with more vigor as Jared watched him drop off the side of the road and vanish into the thick brush.

  When Jared got back to the VW, the horses were watered, and the men leaned against the tiny car like they were high school kids at a drive-in.

  “He thought he was being used; thought we were getting rid of him by sending him out on these little details you’ve given him. Sounds like his parents were pretty crappy to him. I didn’t get into it with him, but I don’t think his family spent a lot of time with him,” Jared solemnly informed the group.

  Chapter 40

  Half an hour after Devon set off, Calvin rousted the horses, and away they all went, with Jared seated inside the VW. He tried to remain alert and focused on their surroundings, but it was hard with the two tails swooshing back and forth in front of him like two windshield wipers. The swooshing tails along with the cadence of the horses’ hooves was nearly hypnotizing as Jared adjusted the steering wheel left and then right, keeping the center of the hood aligned as perfectly as he could with an imaginary center line between the two horses.

  The four men reached the intersection without incident, where they met Devon. The two groups parted ways with few words exchanged, each party heading toward their target. Jared and Barry were on their own with the team of horses now. Knowing the two lacked any significant equestrian experience, Calvin had done his best to identify a few of the finer points of handling the animals. In the end, Jared led the horse on the left by the bridle while Barry controlled the car.

  When Jared and Barry reached Solar Green, they realized they couldn’t get in. How in the holy hell had they screwed this up after all the planning and late-night discussions about their grand plan? Jared started to get angry with John, but quickly realized they all shared blame in this mistake. Barry’s eyes were wide as they stood outside the business with a team of horses attached to a car, where anyone passing by could see them. Barry looked at Jared, cocking his head as if questioning what to do now.

  “What do you think?” Jared asked, having nothing else to offer.

  “What do we do? I mean, John should’ve been with the car, and you should have gone with Carlos and Calvin.”

  “Thanks, Barry. I think that’s pretty clear now.”

  Jared took a deep breath, creating a whiteboard in his mind. They were faced with a problem; they couldn’t access the building, and there wasn’t a darn thing they could do about it. Jared surveyed the door, which was metal and encased in a steel doorframe. He doubted he could just kick the thing in. Smashing it with something over and over might work, but would create problematic noise.

  Considering their predicament, they would just have to wait for John. How they waited would either increase or decrease their chances of avoiding conflict. Slowly a plan began to form on Jared’s imaginary whiteboard. Quickly the men unhitched the team of horses before pushing the car into a parking space next to a number of other nonfunctioning vehicles. The priceless vehicle was essentially hidden in plain sight. Jared secured the key in his pocket, then led the horses to the rear of the business. He tied them to a downspout on the side of the building and moved two large blue dumpsters in front of the animals. It wasn’t the perfect situation because Jared could still see the horses’ heads when they were upright, but it had to do for now.

  After the vehicle and horses were secure, Jared and Barry slithered into some bushes that lined a drainage ditch on the back side of the business, where they waited. The two men drank water, but neither man ate a morsel of food. Nerves always killed Jared’s appetite, and after realizing their mistake, his guts were churning. The sun sank lower on the horizon as the day wore on, and still John hadn’t appeared, causing Jared to start thinking about what they were going to do if he and Barry ended up spending the night outside.

  He kicked himself for not planning for this earlier by taking turns trying to get some sleep so they could pull a two-man security watch that night without being completely exhausted. Better late than never, Jared thought as he leaned over and whispered in Barry’s ear, telling him to grab a nap in case it turned into an overnighter. Barry agreed and lay back on his pack, closing his eyes. Sleep was hard to find time for, but was not in the least difficult to achieve. Within seconds, Barry’s rhythmic breathing told Jared the other man was fast asleep, his arms crossed over his chest while his eyes fluttered and danced to the cadence of some unknown dream.

  The sun set, and still Jared stood watch, allowing Barry to sleep peacefully next to him. It was almost a mental thing to Jared, knowing the longer he let the man sleep, the more sleep time Barry would owe him. Jared was tired, but not overly exhausted, so he remained vigilant while Barry rested. Sometime after 2100 hours, Jared’s heart nearly stopped when he heard a scraping noise come from the alleyway along the side of the Solar Green building.

  John sent Devon to scout the area around Solar Green and report back on whether there were any unsavory types wandering around the neighborhood. Devon failed to reconnect with John, Calvin and Carlos, but he also hadn’t fired three shots, so John figured the teenage wraith was lurking about and would show up after he got situated at Solar Green. John realized his mistake before he even reached the U-Haul business and had not stopped beating himself up over it. The lack of communication equipment drove him nearly mad at times like these, but what choice did he have? Calvin attempted to ease John’s worry by reminding the younger man that in Calvin’s day, he didn’t have fancy radios or cellular phones and they’d all gotten along just fine.

  John listened, but it didn’t help much. He felt he should be better than forgetting a sim
ple thing like the fact that he was Jared’s only way inside the building. Now, John could only imagine what Jared was being forced to do or, worse yet, if the younger man hadn’t done anything and chose to sit in the VW and wait. John pushed the last thought from his mind, knowing Jared was a smart person and would have figured out some way to tip the scales in his favor.

  As John and Calvin guided the horses down the side of the building with Carlos in trail, one of the animals moved to one side and scraped the building, making a fairly loud noise, much to John’s dismay. John released the horse he held and moved, gun up, to the back edge of the building, scanning for any sign someone heard the sound and was coming to investigate. John didn’t like that he was pretty much out in the open as he scanned, hoping if he ran afoul of anyone, they would be a terrible shot.

  John was about to move back to the horse-drawn trailer when a low whistle came from the edge of the property. John tensed for a split second, then realized the whistle had to be Jared. Before he could respond, Jared rose from some brush and stepped into the back lot. John was elated to see the man unharmed and right where he’d hoped to find him. He wasn’t happy about the fact he had stood out in the open while Jared maintained the drop on him. John needed a break before he made a mistake that would either cost him or, worse yet, cost someone else their life.

  John had been deployed more times than he could remember, and those deployments usually lasted about ninety days before his unit would be brought back home for a little rest and some training. If something happened during the deployment of a significant nature, the unit could be pulled back as well. For this to happen, a unit would have to lose several guys in a single action, which was rare but not unheard of.

  If this happened, and it had, the unit would be pulled and replaced with another unit. At the current time, John figured he had been going nonstop for at least ninety days. John considered his former unit’s operational tempo and had to say his current operational tempo was even with or higher than what he’d experienced with the Special Missions Unit. In his old unit, John worked most nights with the operations being dangerous and grueling, but after they were completed, all the men would return to base, pop an Ambien, and sleep for eight hours.